Spacecraft enters sun’s corona for first time in history

An instrument made by scientists and engineers at the Center for Astrophysics has helped verify that — for the first time in history — a spacecraft has entered the corona of the sun.

Nadia Whitehead • harvard
Dec. 14, 2021 ~5 min

A tool to speed development of new solar cells

A new computational simulator can help predict whether changes to materials or design will improve performance in new photovoltaic cells.

David L. Chandler | MIT News Office • mit
Dec. 9, 2021 ~7 min


A new exoplanet: meet GJ 367b, an iron planet smaller and denser than Earth

Most of what we know about planets outside our Solar System relates to gas-giant planets. A new study has identified and characterised a smaller exoplanet.

Coel Hellier, Professor of Astrophysics, Keele University • conversation
Dec. 2, 2021 ~6 min

An energy-storage solution that flows like soft-serve ice cream

Researchers make the case for a semisolid electrochemical compound as a cost-efficient, grid-scale battery backup for wind and solar power.

Leda Zimmerman | MIT Energy Initiative • mit
Nov. 30, 2021 ~10 min

Solar panels: we need to recycle parts of them to use again and avoid a mountain of waste

Re-using elements from solar panels is essential to mitigate climate change, says an expert

Matthew Davies, Associate Professor, Swansea University • conversation
Nov. 24, 2021 ~6 min

Curious Kids: what are the rings around planets made of?

Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus all have rings.

Maggie Lieu, Research Fellow, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham • conversation
Nov. 23, 2021 ~5 min

Super thin solar cells hit new efficiency benchmark

Researchers have boosted the efficiency of solar cells made from semiconducting perovskites while retaining their ability to stand up to the environment.

Mike Williams-Rice • futurity
Nov. 22, 2021 ~9 min

Mystery of high-performing solar cell materials revealed in stunning clarity

Researchers have visualised, for the first time, why perovskites – materials which could replace silicon in next-generation solar cells - are seemingly so

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Nov. 22, 2021 ~4 min


Have we made an object that could travel 1% the speed of light?

The fastest things ever made by humans are spacecraft, and the fastest spacecraft reached 330,000 mph – only 0.05% the speed of light. But there are ways to go faster.

Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona • conversation
Nov. 15, 2021 ~5 min

Embodied carbon: why truly net zero buildings could still be decades away

Embodied emissions in buildings could be a hidden setback for carbon reduction targets.

Ljubomir Jankovic, Professor of Advanced Building Design, University of Hertfordshire • conversation
Nov. 11, 2021 ~7 min

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